UFT to Partner with Charter Firm in Bronx;
Hope to Replicate L.A. Success Motivating Struggling Kids

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten last week announced a partnership with a charter company to open a school in The Bronx, in a move that could begin to transform the relationship between charter schools and Teachers' unions.

The Chief-Leader/Pat Arnow NEW MANAGEMENT: Green Dot Public Schools founder Steven Barr, who runs 10 unionized charter schools in Los Angeles, called United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten an 'enlightened union president' and said that he hoped that their partnership would 'spark a movement that will bring reformers and unions together.' The L.A. schools' contracts do not include a tenure system or defined working hours.

Green Dot Public Schools will submit an application to open its first New York City school, pledging to negotiate a contract with the UFT. The company has 10 schools in Los Angeles, where its Teachers are members of the California Teachers Association.

Paid Dividends in L.A.

Green Dot has caused controversy in L.A. with its aggressive organizing and marketing style, but its proponents say it is successfully graduating 75 percent of its students in neighborhoods where drop-out rates soar above 50 percent.

Green Dot's union contracts vary markedly from traditional Teachers pacts in terms of tenure and workday limitations, but CTA officials assert that there have been few complaints from Green Dot Teachers because they have a say in the curricula and policies of the schools.

"This has been a tremendous success story in southern California," said Ms. Weingarten. "We share a common vision of education reform."

All Green Dot high schools have no more than 525 students, demand parent involvement and have a longer workday than most public schools. Almost all the students are Latino or black, one-third are English-Language Learners, and the vast majority come from low-income families. About half of the students enter the schools reading below grade level, and about 72 percent of the students who graduated last year were accepted at four-year colleges.

Sees Bigger Picture

Green Dot founder Steve Barr says that he wants his schools to be unionized in part because he believes Teachers should have a say in how schools are run, but also because he is looking to reform the entire public school system. "We're not talking about creating oases in the desert," said Mr. Barr. "You can't create reform by constantly having non-union charters clashing with unionized schools."

Green Dot Teachers make about 10 percent more than Teachers in other L.A. public schools. Instead of a traditional tenure system, the contract includes a clause that allows dismissal of staff for "just cause." Mr. Barr said that only one Teacher has been fired in seven years, and Green Dot officials claimed that Teacher turnover is between 15 and 20 percent annually.

"This tenure system is a really good tenure system," said Ms. Weingarten, noting that it applies to new and veteran Teachers and that historically the labor movement has used "just cause" clauses to prevent arbitrary firings.

Data Just a Snapshot

The UFT president argued that one of the key problems concerning job security in New York City was the attempt to link test scores to Teacher evaluations. Mr. Barr said that while Green Dot keeps careful track of its data, it is not used for high-stakes decisions. "If one 9th-grade math class is not doing as well as the other nine," he said, "I'm going to work to put more resources into that classroom. The data is just to see how we're doing."

Ms. Weingarten said that having a management that is committed to working collaboratively with Teachers could result in different sorts of contracts. "We have such horrible, petty, ridiculous and top-down dicta here," she said, referring to the city's approach, "that the contract is written in a way to balance that." But she added that the UFT does not believe in "jobs for life," and that Teachers performing poorly should be given assistance or should be counseled out of teaching. If there was a change in the city's approach, she said, "we would be open to all sorts of things."

Need State Sign-Off

Green Dot's proposal to set up shop in The Bronx would need to be approved by one of the state's chartering entities, and no contract can be negotiated until after the school is unionized.

CTA officials asserted that relations at the Green Dot schools between Teachers and management are better than in traditional public schools. "The Teachers and administrators work well together," said CTA spokeswoman Sandra Jackson. "The Teachers are involved in developing their own curriculum and their own hours."

The prevalence of non-union charter schools in L.A. soured relations between the charter movement and the Unified Teachers of Los Angeles, which has 48,000 members and is affiliated with CTA. More than 100 of L.A.'s 750 schools are charters, and only Green Dot's are unionized.

UTLA President A.J. Duffy, who was elected on a reform slate two years ago, said the former president did not move to organize Green Dot because he believed UTLA couldn't handle its own internal business and an organizing campaign. But he said reports of tensions between Green Dot and UTLA were overblown.

Keep Teachers in Loop

"We're hearing that there are very positive things going on at Green Dot," Mr. Duffy said. "Teachers being at the core of decision-making, and making parents critical partners."

Mr. Duffy asserted that while data indicated that charter schools overall do not outperform traditional public schools, the UTLA had changed its stance on organizing them and is now involved in that process. He said UTLA Teachers at about half-a-dozen traditional public schools in L.A. had asked Green Dot to come to their schools to discuss working with them. UTLA's current position is that if 2/3 of Teachers in a school vote for Green Dot, the union will back the group's entrance.

'Worthy Partnership'

American Federation of Teachers Deputy Director Nancy Van Meter said she was pleased to see Green Dot working with the UFT, which is an AFT local, and that the federation was open to future deals in other cities. "What makes this unique and important is that this is not being imposed from above," she said. "This kind of partnership is worth exploring."

Green Dot caused a stir in Los Angeles when it tried to take over Jefferson High School, a large school where more than half the students drop out. The local school board blocked the move, but not before Green Dot had organized a parent group and spearheaded a 1,000-parent march to the school board's headquarters. A deal was reached in which Green Dot set up five small schools within the massive high school's attendance area.

Mr. Barr's goal is to have one in every 10 students in L.A. enrolled in a Green Dot school by 2010. He has raised $25 million since 2000 and last fall received a $10.5 million grant from philanthropist Eli Broad to open 21 more schools. Green Dot says its model is fully sustainable on public funding once a school is at full capacity. Each school begins with a ninth grade of about 125 students, and must supplement public funding with about $1.2 million per year until all four grades are in place.

Mr. Barr held back from proposing citywide reform in New York saying instead that he wanted to "influence the South Bronx." But it was clear that his ambitions did not stop at the Harlem River. "This partnership with one enlightened union president," he said, "will hopefully spark a movement that will bring reformers and unions together."